More than 50,000 hate crimes were reported across England, Wales and Northern Ireland last year, police service figures showed today.
These included more than 43,000 race-related crimes and almost 5,000 incidents motivated by whether a person was straight, gay or bisexual.
The Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) said the figures, published for the first time today, showed a more than 12 per cent rise in hate crimes from 46,300 in 2008.
Devon and Cornwall Chief Constable Stephen Otter, the Acpo lead for equality, diversity and human rights, said he hoped publishing the figures would “encourage victims and witnesses to come forward”.
“Hate crimes cause a great deal of harm among victims and communities,” he said.
“Whilst we want to reduce the incidence of these crimes, it is vital that we close the gap of under-reporting. Only by increasing reporting can we gain a full understanding of the extent of hate crime and it is for this reason that I urge victims and witnesses to continue to come forward.”
The latest figures showed there were 43,426 race-related hate crimes last year, 4,805 motivated by sexual orientation, 2,083 crimes by religion or faith, 1,402 by disability and 312 by transgender issues.
PA